AWARENESS

In just one lifetime, people can be anywhere in the world in about a day. Travel and tourism consumer safety reporting and protections are poor. The $7+ trillion travel and tourism industry does not get much help to fulfill their duty of care and duty to inform. Policy simply has not kept pace with globalization.

Most people do not understand the problem we aim to solve. There is no critical incident report to inform you or the ones you love of dangers before you travel abroad. This lack of reliable data, in our opinion, gives a false confidence on travel safety. According to the 2014 International Trade Association Outbound American Citizen Report, most people do not protect themselves with travel insurance or pre-trip travel clinic wellness checks. Consumers do not get a heads-up on how to Depart Smart. There are no warnings before your buy a plane ticket or fly overseas. Most people do not know ‘what they do not know’ to travel safely and prepare for safe, rewarding journeys.

We are often told the simple truth is overwhelming. Most people ‘think’ they travel smart. Then, they take the Depart Smart Travel Safety Savvy quiz. Our users call it an ‘eye-opener’. Many experienced travelers don’t score more than three or four points. So, how did we get so smart? The school of hard knocks. For ten years, since Tyler Hill‘s preventable death on a student trip to Japan, our founders have been on the pain point side of the problem serving hundreds of families whose loved one died tragically during the trip of a lifetime. So they asked, “What do you know now that you did not know then that may have changed the outcome.

The culmination of ten years of travel safety advocacy is passionately transferred into Travel HEROES Safety Certification. We are dedicated to making sure everyone can identify and avoid risks, get help and home with an Action Plan.

Depart Smart earns media attention as the trusted resource for travel and tourism safety. You can become a strategic sponsor and receive media mentions: “Depart Smart travel safety education brought to you by, “your brand name here.”

Blog Articles, Social Media and e-News

Freelance writers contribute 1-4 articles per week on compelling industry trends, policy, safety and security published on the Depart Smart blog. An electronic newsletter is published often for Depart Smart subscribers. Sponsor our website with your logo and a backlink.

Join thousands of supporters on Twitter, Facebook & LinkedIn for captivating posts five days a week. Support us by sponsoring ads on social media.

Provid is now developing compelling video for our online courses. Help us by sponsoring a public service announcement for $5,000.

OOH for Good places public service billboards along freeways and inside airports. Help us by sponsoring a billboard for $250.

Events, Presentations & Workshops

Executive Director, Sheryl Hill, and Depart Smart Advisors speak at many events on tourism safety. We provide workshops and group orientations for a fee. To request a workshop, speaker or sponsor our fundraising and awareness events, please contact us. Help us by sponsoring our work at tourism conventions and we’ll shout out your brand next to our life-saving work.

Incomplete Illness Injury Student Abroad Death Report (IIISAD)

IIISAD is a grassroots compilation of student illnesses, injuries, and deaths during study abroad programs. The first reports were submitted to policy makers and departments of the United States. These reports led to three state study abroad transparency reporting laws in Minnesota and Virginia.

Advocacy

Minnesota passed higher education and K-12 student abroad transparency laws in honor of Thomas Plotkin and Tyler Hill. Virginia passed a companion law in honor of Damion Wilkins. A federal bill is introduced in honor of Ravi Thackurdeen. The Departments of Justice and Education submitted an amicus brief to apply Title IX to study abroad. Even so, those laws must be enforced. That takes advocacy and funding to achieve.Your financial support is the highest affirmation of our life-saving work. Please give.